The Star Wars Effect: How Nostalgia Can Distort Objectivity

How heavily can nostalgia impact our movie-going experience? And does it explain the strong fan reaction to The Last Jedi?

ByJohn BorbaDec. 26, 2017, 12:06 p.m.

Worry not! This article is totally spoiler free.

I think many of us have felt it... the quickening pulse as the screen lights up with the phrase, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” That moment of anticipation and excitement coming to a joyful head before the orchestra hits and those famous yellow letters take the screen. It’s euphoric… and it’s happening again. Can you feel it? It’s like there’s been a re-awakening.

So what lies at the root of all this excitement? Sure, part of it is space wizards, nerf herders, and a big walking carpet, but most of it lives within us, held within the precious treasure trove in our hearts called nostalgia.

Perhaps this means that when the sense of nostalgia wears off, folks are left feeling betrayed by their memories, or moreover, tricked by a film that played to their nostalgic senses by giving them a taste of that familiar imagery and flavor. Routledge went on to say, “...as a general rule we tend to be more nostalgic about something the more time that has passed. This makes it hard to compare a present experience to how we feel about a past one.” In fact, University of Arizona’s Jeff Greenberg says, “When you’re a little kid, what you identify with is heroism. You want to know what’s good and what’s bad and you want to be on the good side.”

Dr. Krystine Batcho of Le Monye College really drives this home in an article she wrote for Independent.co.uk, saying, “...nostalgia can also seduce us into retreating into a romanticized past. The desire to escape into the imagined, idealized world of a prior era – even one you weren’t alive for – represents a different, independent type of nostalgia called historical nostalgia. Historical nostalgia is often concurrent with a deep dissatisfaction with the present and a preference for the way things were long ago.”

But what about hype? What about the mob mentality? Believe it or not, nostalgia is not necessarily an individual experience, and can feed into a group dynamic. “Part of Star Wars is hype that is motivated by a collective nostalgia.” Said Dr. Routledge, “That is, people get excited about cultural events, experiences, and media that are shared at a broader level. So the actual movie is just one aspect of the experience.”

But beyond the psychological implications of nostalgia there is a further element of body chemistry that comes from the excitement of some of our favorite franchises. In a Vice article about the post-Star Wars comedown, writer Ryan Britt turns to Dr. Erin Falconer, a neuroscientist, to discuss effects on brain-chemistry after such an experience. Falconer explains that anticipation is known as 'positive expectancy' in neuroscience, which causes Dopamine to be released in the brain. Falconer says,"When a person expects a context or cue (e.g., Christmas or a Star Wars film) to predict a rewarding experience, anticipation triggers arousal and dopamine neurons firing in the midbrain. If an experience does not live up to the expected reward, you get what is called 'contrast' in cognitive science, or 'reward prediction error' in biological terms."

These effects can reach into any fandom. For example, many people have noted a cyclical response to games in the Legend of Zelda series. Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword were all released to extremely high praise, but were harshly criticized by some as new iterations were released. Modern entertainment is becoming ever-dependent on the mechanic of our nostalgia through things like the endless film reboots, revitalization of comic book films, and shows like Stranger Things. Being so inundated may be another reason fans may feel like they are being manipulated through their emotional attachments to certain imagery and subject matters.

Look, nostalgia is certainly not all bad. In fact, in many situations nostalgia serves mental health. In what is considered one of the most notable studies of nostalgia in our time, Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology, several professors at the University of Southampton concluded that, “Nostalgia is an existential exercise in search for identity and meaning, a weapon in internal confrontations with existential dilemmas, and a mechanism for reconnecting with important others.”

This may also explain the impulse for many fans to turn to social media to compound the nostalgic benefits of feeling socially connected by sharing their initial emotional reactions. Dr. Routledge commented on this aspect of nostalgia, saying, “Social media certainly opens up new nostalgia opportunities because nostalgia is an experience that motivates people to connect with others.”

Nostalgia is beneficial to many aspects of our mental health. In fact, is serves to nurture many essential aspects of our emotional process. It allows us to see ourselves in time, which is crucial to survival, because it allows us to reflect on past experiences and create a safer, more idealized future. Even more, it serves as a direct coping mechanism for things like mortality.

However, something so powerful likely cannot exist without equally powerful negative aspects. In the case of Star Wars, it can impact our ability to perceive things in a way that remains untainted by memories we hold dear.

In the end, nostalgia is meant to be there. Star Wars: The Last Jedi was recently released to some fan skepticism already, but has otherwise received a largely positive reception from critics and mainstream audiences. Whether overall opinion will change remains to be seen. Whether the warm welcome is fed by the comforting embrace of nostalgia is still up in the air. Perhaps we’ll see this effect diminish as Star Wars becomes less of a precious event, and more of a regular experience.

Personally, I value the nostalgic warmth these Star Wars films have brought into my life. I enjoyed Force Awakens and Rogue One, but am waiting to see The Last Jedi with my family over the holiday. I accept that these films are not without flaw, but neither am I. I’m willing to live with the fact that my memories are a part of my experience with everything I interact with emotionally and that’s ok, as long as I can keep in mind that this influence exists.

It also seems like I’m not the only one. I ended my interview with Dr. Routledge by asking him if he was excited to see The Last Jedi… and if he thought nostalgia might affect his movie-going experience. He said, “I am very excited to see it... though, of course, because I was a child when the original films came out, they will always be special to me. The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest. That is a fact.”